Your Genetic Data Is The New Oil. These Startups Will Pay to Rent It.

Your Genetic Data Is The New Oil. These Startups Will Pay to Rent It.

A doctor conducts a test on DNA.

(© natali_mis/Fotolia)


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Kristen Hovet
Kristen is a science journalist, specializing in the areas of psychology, medical innovations, and the intersection of sociology and culture. Her focus is in making science information accessible and meaningful to a wide variety of individuals. Originally from North Dakota, Kristen is currently based in Vancouver, Canada. She received her degree in English from Simon Fraser University. A lifelong learner with many interests, she has completed certificates in epigenetics, personalized medicine, genetics and evolution, and physiology. Kristen hosts the Humans of Earth podcast.
A new oral vaccine could prevent urinary tract infections for years

Urinary tract infections account for more than 8 million trips to the doctor each year.

Getty Images

Few things are more painful than a urinary tract infection (UTI). Common in men and women, these infections account for more than 8 million trips to the doctor each year and can cause an array of uncomfortable symptoms, from a burning feeling during urination to fever, vomiting, and chills. For an unlucky few, UTIs can be chronic—meaning that, despite treatment, they just keep coming back.

But new research, presented at the European Association of Urology (EAU) Congress in Paris this week, brings some hope to people who suffer from UTIs.

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Sarah Watts

Sarah Watts is a health and science writer based in Chicago.

MILESTONE: Doctors have transplanted a pig organ into a human for the first time in history

A surgeon at Massachusetts General Hospital prepares a pig organ for transplant.

Michelle Rose/Massachusetts General Hospital

Surgeons at Massachusetts General Hospital made history last week when they successfully transplanted a pig kidney into a human patient for the first time ever.

The recipient was a 62-year-old man named Richard Slayman who had been living with end-stage kidney disease caused by diabetes. While Slayman had received a kidney transplant in 2018 from a human donor, his diabetes ultimately caused the kidney to fail less than five years after the transplant. Slayman had undergone dialysis ever since—a procedure that uses an artificial kidney to remove waste products from a person’s blood when the kidneys are unable to—but the dialysis frequently caused blood clots and other complications that landed him in the hospital multiple times.

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Sarah Watts

Sarah Watts is a health and science writer based in Chicago.